Paper dispenser



March 7, 1939. I B coL 2,149,276

PAPER DISPENS'ER Filed May 28, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet l .3 I Tu/ 295 56M 6 (0221mm March 7, 1939. COLBURN 2,149,276

PAPER DISPENSER Filed May 28, 1936 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 7, 1939. B. E, COLBURN 2,149,276

PAPER DISPENSER Filed May 28, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 M6722??? 'flearj 6. Colauvu Patented Mar. 7, 1939 I "UNITED STATES PATENT orncs W 2.149.210

PAPER DISPENSER Bear-l E. Colburn, Green. Bay, W is., auignor to Paper Dispensers, Inc.,

. ration of Illinois ,lil..'a corpo- Application m9, 1m, Serial No. 82,245

9 Claims.

10 .ful extraction of the toweling. 7

Another object of the invention is the provision of a construction of the character indicated so constructed and arranged that an appreciable time must elapse between the extraction of each l5" length of' toweling for use.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention consists in the combination and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying'drawlngs forming a part of this specification andin which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a paper towel dispensing cabinet embodying the invention;

a Fig. 2 an enlarged transverse vertical section of the same;

Fig. '3 ,a section taken substantially on line 2-3 of Fig. 2, showing the parts in their idle position .ready for operation;

Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 3.but showing the 7 positions of'the parts when a length of toweling has been fed from the casing preparatory to removal for use; Fig. 5 a section taken substantially on line 85 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing the parts in their idle 1 positions;

Fig. 6 a detailed section taken substantially on line 6-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 a perspective view illustrating a stop member employed in the construction for preventing removal of toweling during resetting of the operating mechanism; and J Fig. "8 an enlarged detailed vertical section taken through the operating mechanism.

. The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings comprises a suitable sheet metal casing i having a downwardly and outwardly swinging door ll giving access thereto. A paper roll i2 is removably mounted as indicated in the casing l0 and on which a strip of paper toweling i3 is wound and from which said'toweling is dispensed by the apparatus. The end of the strip [3 .is extended between feed rollers I4 and I5 and out through a delivery slot IS in the bottom of 55 the casing ID in operative relation with a tearing (Q1. zu-as) edge or strip il against which the protruding end of the strip of toweling may be torn for-removal and use, as will be readily understood.

. The strip of metal forming the tearing edge I1 is extended upwardly through the slot l6 and 5 then upwardly and forwardly at H at an angle. Anotherstrip I8 is arranged as shown to cooperate with the extension II' to form a guide channel for the strip l3 directly under the meeting plane of the feed rollers and at an upward 10 and forward inclination of substantially 45 degrees. "This guide channel serves to insure a proper guiding of the paper end to the delivery opening, which is especially important when the roll from which the strip is being removed is of small diameter.

As shown, the feed roller I4 is slightly smaller than the feed roller l5 and is mounted on a slightly'higher level, said feedrollers being equipped respectively with contacting rubber rings l8 and It as shown. The feed rollers I4' when the feed wheel or pulley 23, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is operated in a counterclockhandwise'direction, the rollers I and i5will be positively rotated as indicated by the arrows to effect I feeding of a length of the paper toweling downwardly through the slot I6, so that the same may be readily torn off against the straight edge ll, as

I will be readily understood. 5

Bylocating the roller 'll slightly above the 3 roller IS, the same is drawn into more intimate contact therewith by the downward pull of the belt 20, thus forcing said rollers into resilient paper feeding contact or cooperation with each 40 other and thereby dispensing with the necessity of springs or other yielding means for the purpose, a result which is augmented by the presence of the rubber rings" and IS on said rollers. By passing the belt 20 through the grooves 2| and 22 in the said rollers, as best shown in Figs.

3 and 4, both of said rollers will be positively driven by said belt thereby insuring positive action thereof and the feeding of a uniform length of paper toweling at each manipulation.

An operating crank handle 21 is secured by means of a set screw 28 to'a sleeve 29 loosely mounted on shaft 25, said sleeve extending through the adjacent end of the casing l0 and adjacent portion of the frame 26. as best shown therefrom past said washer, but upon return.

in Fig. 8, At its inner end the sleeve 23 carries an operating crank arm 33 having an inwardly extending pin 3| at its outer end overlying an oscillatory arm 32 secured as shown by set screw 32' to the shaft 25 adjacent the inner end of the sleeve 23. At its outer end the arm 32 carries a spring-held detent pin 33 cooperating with two wedge members 34 and 35 diametrically oppositely positioned on the outer face of the feedwheel 23. Stop pins 35 and 31, best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, are mounted in the adjacent side of the frame 23 in the path of the crank arm 33 and serve to limit the oscillatory movements of said crank arm. The arrangement is such thatwhen the crank arm 21 is in the position shown in Fig. I, the other parts will be in the positions shown in Fig. 3 with the pin 3| overlying the arm 32 and spring detent 33 engaging the wedge member 34 in position to operate the feed-wheel 23, belt 23, and feed rollers l4 and I5. When the crank handle 21 is pulled forwardly and downwardly, the parts will be rotated until the. crank arm 33 contacts the stop pin 31, as shown in Fig. 4, which rotation will be exactly through an arc of degrees, the arm 33 being notched at 33 to permit of such movement, and such movement causing a reversal or interchange of the positions of the wedge members .34 and 35. Thus at each manipulation of crank handle 21 the wedge member 34 will be moved through an arc of 180 degrees to occupy the position formerly occupied by wedge member 35 and wedge member 35 correspondingly moved to occupy the position formerly occupied by wedge member 34. Such movement of the-feed-wheel 23 will, of course, cause a corresponding feed movement of the feed rollers l4 and I5 and the consequent feeding of a suitable length of the toweling 3, so that the same may be torn ofl against the tearing edge l1 and used.

As best shown in Figs. 5 and 8, a clock spring 43 has one end secured to the inner end of the shaft 25 and its other end secured to an anchoring pin 4| on the corresponding side of the frame 25. A crank arm 42 is secured by set screw 43 to the inner end of the shaft 25 and carries a crank pin 44 connected with piston rod 45 of a piston 45 operating in an oscillatory cylinder 41. The piston 45 is provided with a leather cup washer 48 operating in the cylinder 41 to permit of ready escape of air from said cylinder when the piston is forced upwardly thereunto, but resisting entry of air to said cylinder as the piston is withdrawn therefrom-under the influence of the spring 43. The length of the piston rod 45 is rendered adjustable by means of an adjusting. nut 45' so that the position of the washer 43 of the cylinder 41 may be adjusted as desired. By this arrangement when the crank handle 21 is manipulated to effect feed of a suitable length of toweling as above described, the piston 46 and washer 43 will be forced upwardly into the cylinder 41 and at the same time the spring 43 wound so as to cause reverse movement of the shaft 25 when the crank handle 21 is released. Upon upward movement of the washer. of the cylinder 41 the air in said cylinder will be forced movement of said washer the same will be re: sisted by the suction of the vacuum which will be formed by the forcible withdrawal of ,the washer 43 from the cylinder 41. There -is a certain uniform amount of leakage past the washer 43 so that the action, of the washer will be to delay the return of shaft 25 to its original position, thus timing the resetting of the parts for operative manipulation of the feed-wheel 23, as will be readily understood.

The cylinder 41 is provided with four air entry openings 41', as best shown in Fig. 5, so that when the washer 43 closely approaches the lower or-outer end of its movement one or more of these openings is uncovered, thus suddenly and completely relieving the partial vacuum in the cylinder, so that all resistance to the full return of the parts to normal position is suddenly and completely removed at the end of the resetting movements of the parts and whereby complete and certain resetting of the parts is assured.

By adjusting the length of the piston rod 45 by means of the adjusting nut 45, the extent to which the washer 48 is thus forced upwardly into the cylinder 41 may be regulated and thus the extent of the vacuum and suction effect of the cylinder 41 regulated as desired, because obviously the further the washer 43 is forced upwardly into the cylinder 41 the greater the vacuum-suction effect and, therefore, the slower the return of the parts under the influence of the spring 43. Thus at each manipulation of the crank handle 21 a uniform length of toweling will be delivered through the slot l3 and upon release of the crank handle the parts will be automatically restored to operative position by the action of the spring 43, the spring detent pin 33 in the arm 32 riding over and re-engaging the corresponding wedge member 34 or 35 as the case may be.

Diametrically positioned stop pins 43 and 53 are arranged on the outer face of the feed-wheel 23 as shown and oscillatory stop sleeve 5| is pivotally mounted on the adjacent frame memberv 26 in cooperative relationship with said stop pins 43 and 53. The extreme inner end of the stop sleeve 5| is cut away at 5| so that when said stop sleeve is in the position indicated in Fig. 3 the adjacent pin 43 may be readily passed through said cutaway portion 5|, but when said stop sleeve is in the position indicated in Fig. 4 the corresponding stop pinv 53 will lodge in said sleeve in case there is any attempt to manipulate the feed-wheel 23 by drawing on the end of the strip of toweling during the resetting of the parts. The action of the stop sleeve 5| is controlled automatically by a depending operating arm 52 attached thereto and arranged in the path of the arm 32, as best shown in Fig. 3, the arrangement being such that when the crank handle 21 is manipulated to effect feeding of a towel length the arm 32 is withdrawn from contact with the arm 52 permitting the latter to fall into' the posi-' tion shown in Fig. 4 whereby the stop sleeve 5| is set to stop any material feeding movement of the feed-wheel 23. However, when the arm32 is returned to its normal initial position it again contacts with the arm 52 resetting the sleeve 5| to permit passage of the corresponding stop pin 43 or 53, as the case may be, and whereby proper and legitimate manipulation of the feed-wheel 23 is permitted. Thus the action of the stop sleeve 5| is to permit of a normal manipulation of the device by means of the crank handle 121 ,but prevents manipulation thereof by,pull ingupon the end of the strip of toweling or otherwise.

. In use and in operation a supply of toweling is placed in the casing or cabinet on a roll l2 and the door locked to prevent unauthorized tampering therewith. when itis desired to recrank handle 21 the parts will automatically reset themselves for further manipulation and extraction of a piece of toweling, but a certain time must elapse before another piece 01' toweling may be extracted. This lapse of time prevents children or other persons from amusing themselves byvwasteful manipulation of the device for removal of the toweling just for fun", or otherwise. In this manner a suitable supply of toweling will be rendered available for those having legitimate use therefor, but the careless or other wasting of the toweling will be prevented.

While I have illustrated and described the pre- *ferred form of construction for carrying the invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details disclosed, but desire to avail myself of such varations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; means for actuating said feed rollers to deliver a predetermined length of such material; means for automatically resetting said actuating means; a cooperating piston and cylinder operatively and adjustably connected with said resetting means to retard the action thereof, by creating a partial vacuum in said cylinder; and means for completely and suddenly destroying said vacuum adjacent the end of the resetting action.

2. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; means for actuating said feed rollers to deliver a predetermined length of such material; means for automatically resetting said actuating means; a cooperating piston and cylinder operatively connected with said resetting means .to retard the action thereof; and means for automatically preventing removal of material from said roll during said resetting of said actuating means.

3. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; means for actuating said feed rollers to deliver a predetermined length of such material; means for automatically resetting said actuating means; a cooperating piston and cylinder operatively and adjustably connected with said resetting means to retard the action thereof; and means for automatically preventing removal of material from said roll during said resetting of said actuating means.

4. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; a feed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulleywheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members arranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywhcel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a spring detent cooperating with said wedge members to rotate said pulley-wheel; a sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationary stop pins arranged toengage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of degrees; yieldable means for returning said shaft to initial position; a crank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on said shaft; a piston operatively connected with said crank arm; and

a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard return movement of said shaft. V

5. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; afeed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulleywheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members arranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywheel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a spring detent cooperating with said wedge members to rotate said pulley-wheel; a sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationary stop pins arranged to engage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of 180 degrees; yieldable means for returning said shaft to initial position; a crank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on said shaft; 9. piston operatively and adjustably connected with said crank arm; and a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard return movement of said shaft.

6. A construction of the class described com prising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; a feed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulleywheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members arranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywheel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a' spring detent cooperating with said -wedge members to rotate said pulley-wheel; a

sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationary stop pins arranged to engage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of 180 degrees; yieldable means for returning said shaft to initial position; a crank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on said shaft; a piston operatively and adjustably connected with said crank arm; and a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard return movement of said shaft, by creating a partial vacuum in said cylinder.

7. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; a feed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulleywheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members ar ranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywheel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a spring detent cooperating with said wedge members to rotate said pulley-wheel; a sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationary stop pins arranged to engage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of 180 degrees; yieldable means for returning said shaft to initial position; a crank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on said shaft; a piston operatively connected with said crank arm; a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard return movement of said shaft; and means for automatically preventing removal of material during said resetting of said actuating means.

8. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; a feed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulleywheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members arranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywheel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a spring detent cooperating with said wedge members to'rotate said pulley-wheel; a sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationary stop pins arranged to engage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of 180 degrees; yieldable means for returning said shaft to initial position; a chank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on said shaft; a piston operatively connected with said crank arm; a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard return movement of said shaft; two stop pins diametrically arranged on said side of said pulley-wheel; an oscillatory notched sleeve cooperating therewith to lock said pulley-wheel during return movement of said shaft and release it during actuation thereof; and a resetting arm on said sleeve cooperating with said actuating arm forautomatic operation of said sleeve.

9. A construction of the class described comprising feed rollers arranged to feed a strip of material to be dispensed; a feed belt for actuating said rollers; a feed pulley-wheel for actuating said belt; an actuating shaft on which said pulley-wheel is loosely mounted; two wedge members arranged diametrically on one side of said pulleywheel; an actuating arm fixed to said shaft and carrying a spring detent cooperating with said wedge members to rotate "said pulley-wheel; a sleeve loose on said shaft and carrying a driving arm loosely engaging said actuating arm and arranged to rotate the same; stationarystop pins arranged to engage said driving arm and limiting the movement of said actuating arm to an arc of 180 degrees; yieldable means for returning'said shaft to initial position; a crank handle on said sleeve; a crank arm on'said shaft; a piston operatively and adjustably connected with said crank arm; a cylinder cooperating with said piston to retard-return movement of said shaft, by creating a partial vacuum in said cylinder; means for automatically preventingremoval of material from said roll during said resetting of said actuating means; two stop pins diametrically arranged on said side of said pulley-wheel; an os-,

cillatory notched sleeve cooperating therewith to lock said pulley-wheel during return movement of said shaft and release it during actuation thereof; and a resetting arm on said sleeve cooperating with said actuating arm for automatic operation of said sleeve. 7

BEARL E. COLBURN. 

